Track



.6. KUNKLE.

TRACK.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I0, 1921. 1,404,127.

Patented Jan. 17, 1922..

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

G. KUNKLE.

TRACK.

APLlICATION FILED MAY I0, 192|.

1,404, 127. A Patented'Jan. 17, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTOHNEYS APPLICATION FILED MAY I0, 192i.

G. KUNKLE.

TRACK.

Patented Jim. 17, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TRACK.

Application filed May 10, 1921.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, Gnonon KUNKLE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Grand Junction, in the county of Mesa and State of Colorado, have invented a new and Improved Track, of which the folloiving is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in tracks, an object of the invention being to provide a track for vehicles, which Will eliminate the necessity oit' building expensive roads in inaccessible places.

Anotherobjert is to provide a track which is made in sections, which Will conveniently accommodate motor driven vehicles, which can be quickly laid down and taken up.

A further object is to provide a track which Will be particularly useful as a permanent traffic link in regions occupied by the extractive industries, such as mining, lumbering and quarrying, which will be useful in all places Where the natural 'condition of the count-ry makes road building eX- pensive.

A still further object is to provide a track which Will be useful for elevated road tra-ffic in congested cities and which will have many other uses which need not be speciii cally pointed out in this application.

Still another object is to provide a track, which will increase the life of rolling stock, which will expedite deliveries and eliminate the exigeneies of Weather in overland transportation, and a track which Will be simple and practical in construction, durable and eilicient in use, and comparatively inexpensive to install and maintain.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved track, illustrating a main track at a point Where it connects with a turn-out track;

Fi re 2Kis an enlarged view in section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 3-4-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective viewr of the junetion of one of the main tracks with the turnout track; and

Specification of Letters Yatent.

Patented Jan. 17, 1922.

Serial No. 468,400.

.Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective vievvv illustrating a slightly modified form of track.

Referring in detail to the drawings, my improved track comprises a pair of track elements or rails indicated by the reference numeral 5, Which are spaced apart and are held against spreading in a manner to be hereinafter described. rIhe track elements or rails may be laid any convenient distance apart and are preferably gauged to accommodate the class of motor vehicles most commonly employed.

Referring now specifically to the construction of eachrail, it will be seen that each rail comprises a pair of parallel side bars 6 which conveniently support between them a series of concavely boived Wheel supporting members 7, connected at their opposite ends to the bars 6. The bars 6 include at their lower edges side flanges 8, which rest upon the ground and the iianges S are integral With perforated lugs 9 adapted to receive any preferred form 0f securing device 1() for holding the rails to the ground, or to a supporting structure (not shown). The outer side bar 6 of each rail includes integral upstanding lugs 11, whichsupport a guard rail 12. The guard rails 12 positively prevent the Wheels of a vehicle from accidentally rolling off the track.

The concave Wheel supporting elements 7 may be surfaced at their intermediate portion with asphalt or similar inateria-1.13, so that a vehicle passing over the track may firmly grip the traction surface 13. I do not Wish to limit myself either to t-he use of this surfacing material, or to any particular method of applying the material to the Wheel supports when it is used. In the drawings, I have shown the surfacing as super-imposed upon the Wheel supports, but it will be apparent that these supports might be recessed and any suitable plastic material molded into the recess and hardened.

Adjacent each end, the side bars 6 are provided With openings such as 14. Hooked links 15 are engageable in the openings. A pair of such links engage in the adjacent openings in the adjacent ends of the side bars 6 and are both pivoted to the end of' a stay rod 16. The stay rods 16 are screw threaded at their inner ends and are operated lproved manner to .tion surface.

and preventing spreading thereof, as will be readily understood.

In Figure 1, I have illustrated a turn` out track 18 communicating with the main track. The side bars 6 of the turn out track which are adjacent the side bars of the main track are preferably made integral with these last mentioned side bars to provide a frog such as 19, which lends strength to the junction of the two tracks. :lt the point where the main track joins or crosses the turn-out track, the two tracks will have a certain amount of traction surface in common as willbe readily understood, and in order to facilitate the steering of a machine from the main track into the turn-out track, the wheel supports 20 which maf-ke up this commontraction surface include a flat intermediate portion instead of a rounded one. They may, however, be surfaced in the usual manner, as indicated at 21,

In Figure 5, rI have illustrated a modilied form of rail which includes the usual side bars 22, concave Vwheel supports 23 and guide Y rail 24. In this instance, the wheel supports are spaced some distance apart and serve as cradles for longitudinal slats. The slats 25 mayv be treated in an;v .approvide a frictional trac- Although I have illustrated certain of the vpreferred embodiments of my invention, it willbe apparent that the particular method of connecting a main trackV with a turnout track, is immaterial and that various slight changes and alterations might be made in thegeneral form and arrangement of the parts described without departing from vthe invention and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the precise detailsv set forth, but shall consider .myself at liberty to make such slight changes and alterations las fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim: l I 1. A track of the character described, comprising a pair of track elements spaced apart, each of said elements including pairs of side bars and cross pieces connecting said side bars.

2. A track of the character described, comprising a pair Vof track elements spaced apart, each of said elements including pairs of side bars, crosspieces connecting said side bars,'traction'surfaces supported on said cross pieces. v

3. A track of the character described, comprising a pair of concave track elements spaced apart, each of said elements comprising pairs ofside bars and concave bowed Vmembers connecting the side bars.

4. A track of the character described, comprising a pair vof track `elements spaced apart, each of said elements including pairs of side bars, cross-pieces connecting the side bars andV cementitions"material supported on the cross pieces providing a trac tion surface. Y 1 'p A track of the 'character described, including a pair ofparallel track elements, each element comprising longitudinal side bars, concavely bowed crosspieces and a traction surface supported upon the' cross pieces. Y

V6. A track lof the lcharacter described, including a pairV of parallel track elements, each elementcomprising longitudinal side bars, concavely bowed cross pieces and a traction surface'supported vupon the cross pieces, eachV of saidv side'bars including at their loweredges laterally extending flanges, and means for securing .said-flanges upon a supporting surface.

7. A. track of thev character described, including` a pair of track elements,` each element comprising a kpair of parallel side bars, concavelj bowed cross pieces connecting the side bars, said cross pieces forming cradles, longitudinal slats supported on the cradles and cooperating to Vform a traction surface.

8 A track of the character described,V

including pairs of .iparallel Vtrack element-s located end to en'd,.the adjacentV ends of the elements having openings therein, links engageable in the Vop/enings Vof the adjacent elements, stay rods pivotallyrconnecte'd to the pairs of links and a turn buckle for operating the stayrrods.

GEORGE KUNKLF. 

